When art meets travel

Category: Destinations

Confusing weather patterns were something I got used to while living in Boston, although the mercurial weather of New England could not prepare me for going to sleep in a Japanese spring and waking up in a New Zealand fall. It was odd, one day smelling flowers on the breeze, the next seeing trees with dead leaves dispiritedly waving, then falling in the wind. … More New Zealand: good on ya!

Every spring cherry blossoms erupt all over Japan, to the extreme delight of locals and tourists alike. The blooms last about 2-3 weeks, and the nightly news has bloom forecasts (which are uncannily accurate, like their weather reports – Japan, please share your secrets with the world). … More Japan: where to begin?

In Hong Kong, people were strutting around in designer labels and driving Ferraris, and everywhere I looked there was a Chanel store with people lined up outside. It was like The Capitol in the Hunger Games, and I greedily lapped up the luxury after six weeks of roughing it in India. … More Hong Kong & China: one hundred days in!

Two weeks ago I was on a bus from Mysore, Karnataka to Ooty, Tamil Nadu in India when the ticket taker looked at my ticket, and started speaking rapidly in Kannada. ‘Madame, ನೀವು ತೆಹ್ ತಪ್ಪು ಬಸ್ನಲ್ಲಿ !’ … More India: started from the bottom, now we here

So far I’ve seen carvings of gods so huge, I only came up to their shins. I’ve driven alongside badass women in headscarves zooming around on motorbikes. I stood next to the magnificent Taj Mahal (I stared for hours, only leaving because I got hungry — there’s no food allowed inside). I’ve ridden trains through lush landscapes, and spotted resplendent peacocks chillin’ in the wild. I watched a Bollywood film with people so attractive that I might never been able to watch an American rom-com again. … More India: you’re most welcome, madame!

The other day I was telling my mom about possible future destinations and she said, ‘It makes my heart skip a beat to hear you talking about visiting these places.’ That in turn made my heart skip a beat, because I heard the excitement in her voice and stopped to consider that traveling like this, unencumbered by responsibility and with the world at my fingertips, was a privilege that was never available to her. … More Thailand: ‘The Land of Smiles’

Happy New Year! Four weeks ago I had three separate, life-changing conversations that set in motion a series of irreversible events: I quit my job, found a replacement for my apartment, and decided to travel without a return date. … More Cambodia: Je suis arrivée!